Cooper Power Systems has entered into a new contract with American Electric Power (AEP) to deliver new SMP 16 substation gateways and SMP I/O remote terminal units (RTUs) for the utility's next generation of substation automation projects.

The SMP 16 substation gateway provides secure and reliable data acquisition and management, as well as features essential communication and data concentration for substation automation and integration applications, according to Cooper Power Systems.

The SMP I/O RTU is a scalable distributed I/O module adapted to substation automation requirements. According to the company, the module integrates seamlessly with the SMP 16 to reduce required configuration effort and time.

Over the next 10 years, AEP plans to install, each year, more than 200 SMP 16 gateways and up to 400 SMP I/O RTUs, in order to update its substation communication infrastructure, and to replace older RTU equipment with current technology.

Months after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released its Clean Power Plan, which will create new regulations for existing power plants, the agency says it has received loads of feedback to consider.